after the glade
by emreader833
Summary: They have just escaped the maze, and now phase 2 is in action. They want answers. They want truth. None of that is promised in the hands of W.C.K.D.
1. Chapter 1

(First chapter ever ㈴2, I have never read the maze runner books, only seen the first movie. Sorry if I get anything wrong like using a character that is dead! All comments replied to and much appreciated)

Chapter 1

Thomas awoke suddenly. He was dreaming about the maze, it's endless corners and high walls. Worst of all the Grievers, they haunted his dreams almost every night.

He was in a big steel shelter in the middle of the desert, and had been since him and his friends had escaped the glade. It was two days since they got out. Two days since Chuck had died, since a young boy had taken the bullet meant for Thomas. Thomas shrugged the thought off for the millionth time since Chuck's death. Thomas still kept Chuck's wooden figure wherever he went.

The bunker was a basic rectangle, made with stainless steel with no windows. There was the big room where everyone slept, the "kitchen", the techie room and the bathrooms. Not very exciting, but at least they could see the horizon. At least there was something beyond the high walls of the glade.

The people that had picked them up in the helicopter were workers from W.C.K.D., and they gave little to nothing answers apart from the plan for the next day. No one was to leave the shelter, no one was to enter the techie room without consent from WCKD, no one was to harm any other inhabitant in the building. Everyone was to follow the rules of WCKD.

In the next day they had been told they would be travelling to a WCKD building in California. He was eager for tomorrow to come, even though he didnt know what he was eager for. He thought maybe it could provide answers, or at least give back some memory. He still didnt remember anything before WCKD. Maybe that was a good thing, he still couldn't belive he had worked for them.

He was cold, the desert was cold at night. Everyone else was asleep in their hammocks or mattresses, heavy breathing filled the silence.

He watched Teresa. She looked so peaceful, her hair tied back and chest rising and falling. She was beautiful really, Thomas hadn't much time to think about it though. And they seemed to know each other before the glade.

He slowly drifted back into slumber, anticipating tomorrow. He didn't dream after that, his mind was too full.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Get up, kids."

Thomas's eyes adjusted to the light. It was coming from the single light bulb in the centre of the room. The woman standing at the switch was called Jessica, one of the WCKD workers. She had an amazing figure, not to mention the six pack she showed off wearing a black crop top and black shorts. Her hair was slicked back into a tight ponytail and her silver eyes watched as the survivors of the glade got up off their beds.

"Big day today, grab breakfast quickly then meet me outside at the chopper." She had a heavy American accent, and she seemed to accentuate every word and make you listen.

She left the bedroom, ponytail swinging.

"Once we are out of here, I'll be giving her a call," smirked Frypan.

"Not if I call her first," Minho replied, grinning. Teresa shook her head, walking towards the door on putting her hand on the handle.

"You won't be able to call anyone at this rate, put your testosterone back in its cage," and she opened the door, heading for the kitchen.

That shut them up.

Thomas followed her and Newt walked beside him.

"So, what do you think of Teresa?" Newt's eyes sparkled. Newt was the kind of guy you wanted to be friends with. He was fair and people looked up to him. Thomas smiled lightly.

"I think you're implying that I fancy her," Thomas raised his eyebrows at Newt as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Man, I see the way you look at her," Newt leaned in a bit. "And the way she looks at you," he added with a wink.

"Forget it Newt, it ain't gonna happen," Thomas replied as they grabbed a bowl of ready made cereal and sat at a table.

"What ain't gonna happen?" Frypan sat down opposite them.

"Newt going out with Teresa, tell him man, I don't think she's your type," Thomas quipped. Newt gave him an angry look and started to object but Frypan said,

"Really? Newt fancies Teresa?! Nah dude, Thomas is right. I don't think she's looking for a boyfriend."

Newt was about to say something but Teresa sat down next to Frypan and Thomas gave him a nudge.

They silently munched their cereal, thinking of their future in California. Once everyone had finished they stacked their bowls in the sink and headed for the door where Jace was waiting. Jace was one of the guys who had rescued them from the glade. He also worked for WCKD and had met them in the helicopter. He opened the door and slapped some people on the back as they ran out to the helicopter just beginning to turn its propellor.

Minho opened the slide door to the chopper and they filed in to find Jessica at the wheel and Alex (another worker) as co pilot. Without a word the blades started to spin faster and faster and soon they were hovering in the air.

Alex turned to face the group and said,

"Sorry guys, we can't let you see the journey," and with a lot of confused looks from the maze survivors, he closed the partition between him and them and pressed a button. Almost instantly a cloud of mist started blasting into the compartment of survivors and they felt themselves fell sleepy.

"What the hell?" Said Frypan, and they fell asleep drunkenly. The last thing Thomas saw was the bunker flying away in the distance, getting smaller and smaller as the drug took over.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Teresa woke up in the helicopter, her head resting on the inside wall. They had landed on black tarmac inside the city which was now a mess. Buildings were burned to the floor, only ash was left. What was left was a massive white building that looked a little like a bank. It had no name and there was very little windows. It was made entirely out of stone apart from the roof which was corrugated iron sheets.

Everyone in the chopper was starting to wake, and soon the doors were sliding open and Jessica was leading them through the front entrance and into the building.

Guards followed them from the back and stood to the side as they entered.

"Welcome to the WCKD California base," said a man standing at the front of the group. The inside of the building seemed much bigger than the outside. The floor was white marble and a staircase leaded to the right and left of the entrance. The shape was a hexagon, each wall had a screen against it and in the centre were a bunch of computers. At the moment they didn't display anything but some lights were still flashing on the computer sets.

The survivors looked scarily out of place in this spotless building and they looked around in awe at the sheer modernity of it all.

The man had a white lab coat on like Ava Paige had before she shot herself. He smiled lightly at them.

"You have done very well, extremely well, with so many survivors. You are very important."

That all they ever got told since they escaped. The importance of their survival.

"That's all very well, but don't you think we deserve some answers?" Teresa was tired of hearing the same things. She wanted truth and her memory back.

"Yes, I think you deserve all the answers you could ever get. The only problem is the possible whole human existence could be endangered, and I think that you will do what you can to help us with our studies." The man stated at Teresa, waiting for a response which she decided not to give. He carried on.

"My name's Dr Sam Hughes, I work for Ava Paige. I trust you all remember her, she's sorry she couldn't be here today. She's currently occupied in France." Sam shuffled some papers and got some weird looks from the group from the glade.

"But she's dead!" Exclaimed Thomas.

"She shot herself in the head," Jeff agreed.

"Faked it," Sam said simply.

"Why the hell would she do that?" Minho asked.

"Can't say, it's part of the classified information we talked about."

"Is anything we're gonna see any more gonna be real?" Asked Teresa.

"That depends on what you believe in," Sam said, turning to a computer. "I don't have time for this, we have some new technology for you. Could you all head upstairs and take a seat at the centre table. Someone will be waiting for you."

The group didn't object. They headed up and found Alex waiting for them. Alex was nicer than most of the workers. Although he didn't give any answers, he gave them hope by saying encouraging things.

"How are you doing guys?" He asked taking a seat at the head of the long narrow table. He was holding a tablet.

That got a few gloomy murmurs. Alex overlooked it.

"The next trial is gonna be tough. It's going to measure brain activity in an epic scale. You're going to be tested in a different way to the maze trials." He looked around the room.

"We're going to start with the latest to enter the glade, as you like to call it. So that's Teresa. Come with me, please." Sam and Teresa stood up. Teresa gave an awkward look at her friends and followed Sam back downstairs and into the basement. The rest were left to look at each other and think of what was to come next. They only had to wait five minutes though, because Sam came back and asked for Thomas.

"Where's Teresa?" He asked Sam.

"Resting. She's done"

Sam followed him into the basement which was a dark lab filled with more computers. Several scientist were waiting for him but nobody he knew. There was a black chair behind a screen like you would find in a recording studio. It had a massive window as the wall, apart from a glass door that Thomas was lead behind by Alex.

A scientist told him to sit on the chair. It was similar to a dentist, quite comfy. He watched Alex leave the room and the remaining scientist type on computers.

The scientist still in the room was a woman. She told him to lie back as the chair leaned backwards and the legs went up. She clicked a few buttons behind the chair and put a kind of headset that seemed to stretch to Thomas's head size. She pressed the last button behind Thomas and left the room, locking it.

Suddenly thin wires were flying round from the back of the chair and piercing into Thomas's wrist and ankles. He screamed in shock. For the second time he felt his eyes go sleepy and his body relax into the chair with eyes looking at him from the other side of the glass. His world swirled into blackness.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 _THE FLARE_

Alana walked through the blistering heat. What used to be her home was an endless desert. She had to care for her mother who had caught the terrifying plague that had killed so many innocent children so far. She knew that soon she would not be able to stay with her mother as she would become dangerous, and then Alana would leave to travel to the only place possible she knew, a cave 40 miles North.

Alana was immune to the plague like the rest of the new generation of kids. Sometimes she wished she could get it, to escape from this hell on earth to be with God. Even now she wondered if God still watched over her. She wondered if God still looked after her and kept her safe. It didn't seem that He was helping her through this burden, but every day she still prayed for her mothers and her own survival.

She carried the water towards her house. You couldn't really call it a house. It was a shelter made of wood and cotton. It wasn't very big at all but it didn't need to be waterproof, it just needed to keep the sand out and the sun off their skin.

Her mother was getting worse. She was forgetting everything, to eat, to go for a pee, that she even had a daughter. Alana hated caring for her but at the same time loved her mother and wouldn't leave her side until she had to for her own safety. One day her mother would forget that humans were not food. That's what The Flare did to your brain.

"Hey mum, how are you doing?" Her mother was burnt from the sun. Her skin was permanently burning hot. You could see her ribs because of the hunger and the fact she sometimes refused food. Alana had heard of people refusing human food until they would only eat humans themselves.

Her mum was lying suspended off the sand by wooden planks Alana had dragged from a ruined shack near the well where she gathered water. Her mouth was open slightly, her lips cracked. Her hair was down to her shoulders and pulled back in a sweaty ponytail. Clothes consisted of underwear, a large brown shirt and a thin blanket covering her waist and legs.

Alana poured some water from the bucket she had been carrying from the well into a smaller cup. She held it to her mother's lips.

"Mum, it's water, do you want some?" Her mother didn't reply, just breathed with short breaths.

"Mum you have to drink it, you will die. Please." Alana gased at her mother with tears in her eyes. Her mother still didn't reply.

"Do it for me. I'm your daughter Alana. Please drink the water." She shook her mothers shoulders. She was sobbing uncontrollably now. She knew it was almost time to leave. Her mother wasn't responding to anything she said. Alana took the water for herself and cried as she gathered all of her few possesions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope you like this chapter guys! It took me quite a while to write but I had a clear idea of what I wanted to say. Hopefully I don't scare anyone (you will understand when you read it). All comments replied to, it makes me smile to see views on these! Have a good day xx :-)**

Chapter 5

Thomas woke up. His vision was hazy, as if he was underwater. He was standing up, looking ahead of him. He seemed to be in some kind of house. He looked around, wondering how he had got there.

Suddenly the curtains at the window burst into flames with much surprise from Thomas. The fire started moving into the walls and picture frames and sofa. Thomas ran towards the door but a flame licked out in front of him and burned his hand.

"Argghh!" He screamed. He turned around to spot a way out and noticed another door that lead to the kitchen. He ran through that. He didn't have much time to look around before the flames started burning the kitchen door. The smoke caught him suddenly and he was choking, his eyes burning and lungs screaming. There was a window above the kitchen sink.

Thomas lunged for the counter and pulled himself up as the flames spread to the floor and wooden dining table. Never before had Thomas seen such thick smoke as this.

He didn't waste time in grabbing a pot hanging overhead and smashing the window. He could feel the heat on his back. He rolled out into the grass below, the smoke chasing him out. Thomas got up and ran from the burning house.

The house was a ranch made completely of wooden logs. It stood next to a frozen lake, and Thomas knew he had woken up in winter. The scenery was simply breathtakingly. Snowy mountains stood on the other side of the lake, Fir trees surrounding Thomas and the ranch.

Thomas spotted something on the lake. It looked like a bundle of rags, lying near the centre on the frozen ice. Suddenly the rags moved and rolled over, to reveal it want rags at all but Teresa lying in the middle of the lake.

"Teresa!" Thomas shouted to her. He saw her head move and it was covered in scarlet blood.

"Thomas, help me," Teresa said helplessly before letting her head rest again on the ice, her eyes closing.

"Teresa! I'm coming!" Thomas had one goal; save her. He didn't hesitate in stepping one shivering foot on the lake. Luckily the ice was thick and it didnt crack at all. He slowly walked closer to Teresa, trying to be as light as he could. He finally reached her, and seeing the gash in her head he picked her up gently, letting her relax in his arms. She had blacked out.

He started to make his way back across to the safe grass. Half way back he heard a crack. His heart started pumping faster, knowing that two bodies would weigh more than one. He stepped again but this time he could see a firework of cracks in the ice from where he had stepped.

Thomas stepped back in horror as the crack started to make its way in front of him. A massive piece of ice broke off from the main and Thomas could see the dark water below. Only then did he feel the true cold.

He needed to get Teresa to land. She was bleeding on his arm, droplets of red falling into the lake and leaving a trail as Thomas turned and cautiously went around the broken ice.

He didn't breath until he got back to the grass. Teresa was losing blood fast and he knew it. He carried her away from the lake and the burning ranch fast.

He layed her down on the grass. She was breathing short, shallow breaths, her chest hardly rising. He had tears in his eyes as he took off his shirt and tried to wrap it around her head like a bandage. In just a few seconds her could see the blood sleeping through his shirt but it was all he had.

Her chest stopped rising and her heart stopped pumping. Thomas sobbed into her, screaming. He closed his eyes and he was away from the scene of the dead Teresa.

He was in a WCKD building. The one from the maze like the dreams he had seen. Faces were staring at him.

They were his friends. Newt, Frypan, Minho and all the rest. They looked at him coldly.

"You killed her," Newt said. He looked at Thomas with hatred.

"Who?!" Thomas said with confusion.

"Teresa. You killed her. You left her for dead." Frypan said this now. He had tears in his eyes.

"What? No! I would never do that! She had a wound in her head!"

"Don't give me lies, Thomas." Newt said. His eyes were grey and glassy.

"Their not lies Newt! You have to believe me!"

"We will never speak again. I don't want to speak to a murderer," Newt said. He was crying now too. The scenery suddenly wavered and Thomas was in a place he had not seen before. Newt pushed back through the group and the group parted to reveal bars. They all left through a gate and Thomas realised where he was. He was in a prison cell, his arms tied in chains. He was left to see his friends walk away from him, the cell locked. Thomas screamed after them. It wasn't him. It wasn't him. He cried himself to sleep.

Thomas opened his eyes. His vision wasn't hazy an more. He wasnt in the cell. He was back on the chair in California.

He didn't understand what had happened. Tears ran down his face once again, and he saw the scientists facing him, the woman coming back into the room.

"You did very well," she said enthusiastically. Thomas didn't feel enthusiastic.

"What happened? Is she really dead?"

"No, no. Teresa is fine. She's resting in the room next door, you can go in there and see her after I take these out."

Thomas realised he still had the wires in his wrists and ankles and they suddenly hurt a lot. The woman pressed another button at the back of the chair and the wires pulled out. The woman quickly pressed a plaster on each of the tiny holes the had been created in his skin.

"Stand up," she said. Thomas did so, almost falling over, and the woman lead him back out through the glass door. The scientist in the room where now clicking on their computers. They didn't notice Thomas as he opened the door to see Teresa.

She was sleeping on a bed in the small, dark room. He decided not to wake her. At least she was alive. At least Newt and Frypan and the guys still liked him. Those words had stung him like his burnt hand. His hand was now fine.

It was all part of the trials.

It wasn't him.

She wasnt dead.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: it's all Dashner's **

**Hi guys, back with another chapter. I would like to thank **

** u/5746692/SwiftfireTheF-A-Y-Z-Runner **

**for being my only reviewer :), means a lot. Check out her stories as well! My next reviewer will get a shout out too, it makes my day to see any kind of comment. Lots of love, Em x**

**Ps; hope the link works SwiftfireTheF-A-Y-Z-Runner :)**

Chapter 6 _THE FLARE_

Alana had left. The sun was burning her arms. At least her head was covered by cloth. She had strapped a water bucket to her back and every so often would take an old cup and scoop up some warming water. She had so far found a lizard and hoping to cook it later she carried it along with her. She tried not to cry because she knew it was just a bad way of losing water from her body.

She thought of her mother and how long it would take her to find something (or someone) to eat. Alana prayed as she walked towards the only cave she knew. She prayed for her mother, her mothers prey and herself. She prayed for The Flare to be cured. Hopefully her brother Thomas would help whoever had taken him for studies. She still remembered the day he was taken away.

Officials had taken helicopters in to search all the villages, searching for children immune from the plague. Alana, being older, was told to stay and care for her mother while Thomas was taken for studies. She hated to see him go but she understood. She hoped he was happy where he was, he was probably missing her and mum.

Just thinking about Thomas caused tears to spring to her eyes. She fought it though and kept on pulling her bare feet across the hard sand. It would take roughly two and a bit days if she didn't sleep much and was quick. That was her goal. Two and a bit days.

She wondered what else or who else she might find at the cave. There was only one way to find out.

**Sorry that was so short, but that's how I like my chapters to be honest ㈳7. Review please, Em xxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys. My goal in this chapter is to make it much longer than the last. That was just a very quick one. I'm preferring Thomas/Teresa's side of this story compared to Alana to be honest. Probably because I created Alana, not Dashner :-) but I still love her situation with her mother (although that's really mean) and (SPOILERS**) Thomas being her brother. Read my other chapters if you don't understand, hopefully you like this one. Next reviewer gets a shout out, love Em xx**

Chapter 7

It took roughly 4 minutes for Jeff to come through the doors into the "resting room". Thomas and Teresa were already asleep and he quickly followed suit. Thomas was dreaming.

He saw white sand and a golden sun, him standing soaking up the rays. He was the only one for miles and miles.

Suddenly he saw a figure advancing towards him from the distance. He squinted in the sunlight, trying to get a better view, but to no avail.

The figure was coming closer, fast. Thomas didn't know if he was scared or not. They seemed to be carrying something on their back. They had a red piece of clothes covering their head. Thomas realised it was a girl.

She had long brown hair and red skin, probably burned from the sun. She had an old red bucket tied to her back with cloth.

Thomas felt awkward just standing there as she seemed to struggle to walk across the bare sand. She was only wearing a long skirt and spaghetti strap top with another piece of thin cloth protecting her arms and back. She had her hands behind her back, holding up the bucket. Thomas wondered what was in it.

She was so close now, only a few meters away. She looked like she hadn't noticed him but that was impossible when he was the only spot on the land for miles.

She was only a few feet away and was looking just to the right of Thomas. He saw tear stains down her face and her forehead sweating in the heat Thomas could not feel.

"Hey," he said softly. She didn't respond or even _notice _

Thomas as she walked right past him, her bare feet swollen and dragging themselves across the barren landscape.

"Hey! Where are you going?" He shouted at her. She still didn't reply so Thomas ran up to her and patted her shoulder. She didn't acknowledge him, her eyes not even flickering, she just puffed on away from Thomas, leaving him staring at her from the middle of the sand dunes.

He woke up suddenly, sweat on his forehead. He pulled his hand through his hair that hadn't been washed in, well he didn't even know. Before the glade he still didn't remember anything from his before life apart that he knew he worked in W.C.K.D. How, he had no idea. How could he have watched them for years he didn't comprehend. How could he be so downright cruel to the people he grew to love like brothers (and Teresa, of course)? There had to be a reason for it. He didn't like the person he was before the Maze.

Teresa stirred and brought Thomas back to reality. He realised that all of the Maze Survivors were now lying on the bed or the floor sleeping heavily. Teresa slowly opened her eyes, her vision adjusting to the dim light. She looked at Thomas sleepily. They were the only ones awake.

"How was it?" Thomas asked. He knew Teresa would understand what he meant.

"Terrifying," Teresa replied, looking away. He wondered if she had had a similar vision about him. _No Thomas, don't be stupid. She only likes you as a friend._

"Mine was the same. Terrifying."

"I think they put together our worst fears and made them into a visible reality." Teresa was watching the group sleeping. Thomas thought about this. It would make sense, he was afraid of all the things that happened in his vision.

"What's your worst fears?" He asked her softly.

"Heights, dying and ..." She trailed off.

"Yeah?" Thomas prompted.

"Losing you," she faced Thomas again. Thomas' heart almost skipped a beat.

"Me too," he said, before leaning towards her and closing his eyes. He felt their warm lips touch and her hands trail up to his hair. He locked his fingers around her waist. They hoped their little moment would never end, as they broke apart and lay back on a bed, eyes closing, hoping to fall into eternal sleep, rather than be in the reality that they feared more than remembering.

**Again I would to thank SwiftfireTheF.A.Y. for her amazing support that encourages me to keep writing. Thank you, Em xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Another chapter! I'm on holiday at the moment, that's why I have been able to submit so many chapters. Once I get back to school on Monday there will probably be less chapters but I will try my best. I would like to thank 'GoEun08' for reviewing my story. Take a look at her stories as well, they're really good (and its amazing that she can write such good stories even when English isn't her first language!) **

**Hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it, love Em x**

Chapter 8 _THE FLARE_

Gasping for air. Reaching for it, feeling it slip through you fingers. Almost giving up but trying to push on. You don't want to die. You won't allow yourself to give up, yet.

Alana's breaths were short and deep, her throat dry and begging for the cool water that wouldn't come. the bucket was empty. The lizard was devoured hours ago.

She could almost see the cave now, or maybe it was a hallucination. She had slept by a rock after making a fire out of a piece of glass and cloth and sticks. The desert was cold at night.

The cave was straight ahead, a dark cavern in the blistering brightness that beat down on her, crushing her. Alana dragged her feet through the hot sand, barely able to stand. She could make it. She would make it, she told herself. She hadn't cried since the day before, no tears would come out of her permanently squinting eyes.

Her knees buckled and she went down in a crawl position. If she could cry she would've in that moment. She threw up the last morsel in her stomach and wrapped her arms around her ribs. She was about to give up when she saw something move in front of her.

A person was running towards her with a stick in their hand. It was a boy about the same age as her. A girl ran out of the cave behind him and they continued to run towards the broken Alana.

Alana's vision went hazy and she felt her dry eyes close as she blacked out.

"Dan, she's awake!" It was a girls voice. Alana opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. She seemed to be lying on a wooden bed with a blanket over her. There was a girl bending over in front of her face.

She had a short blonde bob that was greasy and unwashed obviously, not that Alana's was any better. She looked slightly younger than Alana but apart from that the only thing that differed between them was the girl's wide smile.

Alana tried to sit up and had to lie back down again. Her stomach ached and her throat was still dry. She mouthed the word "water" to the girl.

The girl scurried off to get her some but a boy came over to look at Alana.

The had wavy blonde hair like the girl. Alana thought they must be brother and sister. He had dark brown eyes and sharp features, a jaw line that looked like it could slice cheese.

"How're ya feeling?" He smirked.

Alana didn't answer and tried to sit up again. He helped pull her up into a sitting position and took a cup of water from the girl. Alana too the cup gratefully.

"My name's Talia, and this is Dan," said the girl, sitting next to Alana's bed.

"Daniel," the boy corrected, taking the cup from Alana when she had finished.

"I'm Alana," she said, her voice croaky.

"I bet you're hungry," said Talia. She gave Alana a bowl full of something that looked vaguely like potato soup. Alana took it in her thin fingers and started eating it immediately while Talia and Daniel watched happily. They seemed nice enough.

"Where am I?" Alana asked once she felt a little rejuvenated.

"We call it the caverna. It's Spanish for cave, our parents are from Spain, you see." Daniel sat on the floor and crossed his legs. They had a heavy English accent although his parents were Spanish. It reminded Alana of her grandad.

Alana took in her surroundings. She was inside the cave. Grey stone were the walls, floor and ceiling. She could hear water drip from somewhere inside. There was a table in the far corner and another bed next to her. There was a fire in the centre of the room with a pot hanging over it. The front of the cave was slightly blocked by boulders and only a small entrance was cleared. The flames from the fire danced on the walls of the cave and Alana sat and watched them for a while.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Two days," Talia said softly.

"Thank you for keeping me here," Alana felt her eyes fill with tears. Her mum would probably be dead by now. She didn't want to tell them that though so she breathed back the tears. Luckily they hadn't noticed.

"You can stay here as long as you want to. Why we're you wandering in the desert?" Daniel asked. They had obviously been itching to ask her that and they watched her intently.

"My house and family were burned, all apart from my brother who was taken to help with the cure for The Flare," she lied. "I was staying in a camp by myself, but I needed to find someone, even if I was gonna die for it."

"Our brother Newt was taken for research too! I wonder if they know eachother?!" Talia exclaimed. This gave Alana some comfort, knowing that there was someone on the same boat as her. She decided she liked them.

"I hope they're ok," Alana said. Now she had a piece of hope in her heart. She smiled to the brother and sister, finally happy that she had found someone who might understand her. It was a good feeling.


End file.
